Imola 2021 rewind: Blue touch paper lit in Hamilton/Verstappen title fight

Formula 1 heads back to Imola this weekend for round four of the season and if it’s anything like as dramatic as the race in 2021 we are in for a treat.

The first European Grand Prix of the season marks round four of the 2022 world championship and the home crowd will be hoping that Ferrari can maintain their early-season form by winning around one of the sport’s more traditional tracks.

Certainly, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be eager to see that happen, whilst Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the Red Bulls will have other ideas and will hope they are able to take the fight to the Scuderia.

Another important battle in terms of the championship awaits, then, even at this early stage of the campaign and Verstappen will know better than most how important this Grand Prix can be to put your mark on things, especially after the way the 2021 race went.

In slippery conditions, Verstappen launched brilliantly off of the line to go wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton into the first chicane and then he certainly showed no signs of wilting under the pressure as the two clashed to leave the Dutchman out in front.

The events that followed, meanwhile, provided one of the most dramatic Grands Prix of the season – which is saying something – with a big shunt between George Russell and Valtteri Bottas sparking a red flag, which would come to the aid of Lewis Hamilton who’d just run off of the track and fallen a lap down on the field.

He went about a superb recovery drive at the restart to secure second place by the chequered flag but, ultimately, it was Max’s day in a race that really did underline that we had a proper championship fight in the offing.

Relive the Grand Prix now ahead of this weekend’s race, with these